The present invention relates to the field of manufacturing machines and presses having rotating cylinders and shafts, and more particularly to a laser device which aids in the alignment and placement of tooling onto the machine's cylinder or shafts.
Equipment such as rotary die presses, flexo presses, slitters, letterpresses, print die mount stations, and specialty folder gluers are utilized to cut, score, glue, and fold flat sheets of corrugated sheets into semi-finished or completely finished products. These pieces of equipment typically have a rotating cylinder and/or rotating shafts onto which are mounted various tools which have sharp edges for cutting and scoring the corrugated material as it passes through the machine. (Note that although some machines have both cylinders and shafts, cylinders and shafts will sometimes be collectively referred to herein as only “the cylinder”.) Some of the tools used in these operations may include: cutting dies, printing dies, score, slit-score and slot heads (collectively referred herein to as “tools” or “tooling”).
To make a flat piece of corrugated paperboard into a box or packaging of a desired shape and size, the tooling must be placed in specific locations on the cylinder of the machine. As the corrugated sheets move through the machine, the properly positioned tooling cuts, scores, slots, or prints the corrugated sheets at the desired locations. To determine the proper location that the tooling must be placed on the surface of the cylinder, the machinist must know the relative horizontal and vertical dimensions of the cylinder. For example, the specifications to make a box or other corrugated product may call for the machinist to place a tool at thirty-three inches left of the centerline on the horizontal axis, and twelve inches from the zero point on the vertical axis. The current method for determining these dimensions typically includes using a hand-held tape measure or ruler to measure the distance on the cylinder. Typical tolerances for locating tooling are less than one sixteenth of an inch. The distances are measured from a fixed position on the machine, such as the edge of the machine's sidewall frame or the center of the cylinder. The tooling is held in position on the cylinder by various attachment devices such as bolts, which the machinist drives through the tooling and into the cylinder using an electric or pneumatic hand tool.
One problem with positioning tooling in this manner is that it can be dangerous for machine operators who have their hands near the sharp edges of the tooling as they use the tape measure to hold the tooling and secure the tooling to the cylinder. Another problem with this technique is that it takes a significant amount of time for the operator to position the tooling since the operator must coordinate and manipulate the tooling, the tape measure, and the hand held tool used to secure tooling to the cylinder. Yet another problem with this technique is that the machine operator looses precision and accuracy because of the encumbrances of holding the tooling to be mounted on the press, the tape measure, and the hand-tool necessary to secure said tooling to the cylinder.
Therefore, there is a need for a device, which allows for the safe and efficient alignment of tooling onto machines having rotating cylinders and/or shafts.